Saturday, August 28, 2010

A new jewel just dropped into my mailbox today and I had to post up about it. Let me start off by saying that for my money the most consistent hip hop label in the game today and for the past 5 years or more has been Tres Records. People Under The Stairs, Giant Panda, Shawn Jackson, Paten Locke, C.R.A.C., are just a few of the artists that have called Tres Records home. All the artists on the label are united by one thing: a commitment "to procuring the hip-hop aesthetic while exploring the infinite possibilities of the sampling tradition."But enough about the label, Let's talk about the new record! ESQ & Chikaramanga are dropping "The Succession." Set for a September 14th release, the album is a collaboration between two like minded hip hop cats. Both tend to keep it dusty and not digital. Vinyl samples, stacks of rhyme books, and the SP-12 are in full effect on "The Succession." This record is for every hip hop cat that I hear complain about music not sounding like it used to "back in the day" (this usually means the early 90's w/ tribe called quest, gangstarr, de la soul, pharcyde etc). ESQ & Chikaramanga are on a mission to prove that "Boom Bap" is still alive and well 20 years later. The cuts are sharp, the lyrics swift, and the beats bang. I don't need much more hahaha. If you get this record and your neck doesn't start snappin' then I'm pretty sure you don't like hip hop. "Cosmic Mellow" is my top track right now but this album is so deeply layered that that could change from one moment to the next.